Here is a list of the channel designs used in Peters amps from 2005 to 2017 (not counting the 3CP1, Wolverine, JP-10/50/100 amps which all have their own pages describing them).

Amp formats from 2005 onward were made with various channel designs. This allowed for more variety in the amp lineup, and helped with my evolution of the designs.

Based on input from testers and owners of the amps over the years, I have been making design improvements. This resulted in discontinuing previous designs. That’s not to say the older designs aren’t good, but I was trying to make my designs with more universal (and updated) appeal. Some specific details are mentioned in the descriptions of the channel designs below.

Later amp formats also brought about changes to the amp designs overall, not just the channel designs. So for instance a Professional Series amp with Chimera channel sounds different (arguably improved) compared to a 2007/2008 Dual Channel amp with a Chimera channel. The most recent format is known as Format 7, since it’s the 7th overall amp format I’ve made; it has the most refinements in design. (Current Professional Series amps now incorporate those refinements too.)

Clean: A channel meant for clean sounds and some bluesy overdrive. (Later replaced by Halo.)

Aurora: This is the original name of the Halo channel, used in only one amp. When I made the first amp with this channel design it was named Aurora. I was told shortly afterward that another amp company was about to release an amp with the same name, so I then changed the name of this channel design to Halo.

Halo: A revised clean channel design which has more overdrive when the gain is turned up, and it’s more focused sounding at that setting. Good for clean sounds and blues/classic overdrive.

Classic Overdrive: A vintage/classic British overdrive sounding channel design.

Harrier: Like the Classic Overdrive channel but with a bit more gain and grit.

Lead Overdrive: A relatively classic British sounding/feeling design but with significantly higher gain levels for modern rock. (Gryphon replaced this.)

Gryphon: Successor to Lead Overdrive design, more refined and flexible sounding overall. A fairly British sounding/feeling design with enough overdrive, aggression and focus for more modern styles. Not quite a modern high gain design by today’s standards, but some people like it for aggressive hard rock/metal. Gryphon was continued past this amp format into 2007-2017 amps, and has lately been replaced by Fire Hammer which can do these sounds and more (Fire Hammer is a revised design in general).

Lead Overdrive 2: A different approach to thick overdrive with less classic sound/feel than the Lead Overdrive design. It had more “American” overdrive sound blended in with the “British” overdrive sound, and wasn’t very refined or very tight on the attack.

Modern High Gain: The first design by Peters that was intended for modern high gain sounds. It had nice character, not intended to be a particularly saturated-sounding design. It’s relatively tame by today’s standards. (Warhawk replaced this.)

Warhawk: Based on the Modern High Gain design, refined somewhat. (Later replaced by Chimera.)

Halo: A clean channel design which can also do blues/classic overdrive with the gain turned up. Depending on what overdrive channel the Halo was paired with, it would sound slightly different from model to model.

Polaris: A British-sounding classic overdrive design with some more gain and refinements compared to prior classic overdrive designs. Its higher gain sounds were more useful since they had more focus. Polaris walked a fine line between vintage overdrive and more aggressive rock sounds. Some people wanted more “true vintage” sounds and some people wanted more aggressive rock sounds, so Polaris was discontinued when Regulus and Vega were introduced.

Regulus: Intended to be a more “true vintage British”-sounding design, picking up where the Classic Overdrive design of 2005/2006 left off. It was a new approach to a vintage-sounding overdrive design, not a continuation of the Classic Overdrive. Later replaced by Reptilicus, since it covers the sounds of this and Vega.

Vega: An aggressive British-sounding medium-gain design with attitude. That’s the best way to describe this. It’s capable of sounding aggressive for the kind of players who “talk with their hands” and “hit hard”. Later replaced by Reptilicus, which covers sounds of the Vega and Regulus.

Gryphon: A fairly British sounding/feeling design with enough overdrive, aggression and focus for more modern styles. Not quite a modern high gain design by today’s standards, but some people like it for aggressive hard rock/metal. Gryphon has been replaced by Fire Hammer, which is more aggressive.

GNL: Similar to Gryphon but a bit more modern sounding/feeling. It probably shouldn’t have been in the lineup since Gryphon was so similar, but once someone heard about this design (as a one-off), it became requested. As with the Gryphon, GNL was replaced by Fire Hammer since it can do sounds like this.

Chimera: A later take on the general design approach of the Warhawk, with improvements. It unfortunately missed the mark for what most people expected in a modern high gain design. If your playing is really tight and your guitar sounds tight, the Chimera can sound very aggressive and expressive. If however you’re not really “on the ball” with your playing style (including very careful control of palm muting), it might not sound “high gain enough” to you. This is why it was replaced with other designs (FSM, Plasma Blade).

Hydra: A thick high gain sounding design. However, most people are not able to get tight/aggressive sounds from it since it wasn’t actually intended for that kind of sound; it was more intended to be a replacement of the Lead Overdrive 2 design, or similar to voicing 4 of the JP-50. Due to a few misleading sound clips on the Internet, people assumed this was the “tightest/meanest Peters amp”. I discontinued Hydra because most people would ignore what I said about it, choosing to base their purchase decision on those sound clips, which wasn't a good represenation of what Hydra could do.

FSM: A thick modern high gain sound with significantly better tightness to it than the Hydra, without sounding “too tight”. This was my reigning modern high gain design for years until Plasma Blade was made. FSM is a bit thicker sounding than Plasma Blade, but not quite as tight.

CSM: A single Professional Series Dual Channel amp made in 2016 has this channel design. The intent was to make a design similar to Chimera but with the more refined aspects of the FSM so it could be tighter sounding than the Chimera was. The buyer wanted the amp to have a more 80s/90s thrash vibe than modern high gain, but also a bit higher gain. This hybrid design worked very well for that goal.

Body Hammer: A few amps with this design were made. It’s an earlier version of Plasma Blade. This is a very aggressive modern high gain design but also fairly tight sounding, capable of somewhat more “American” overdrive character in the sound (compared to my previous high gain designs which were a bit more “British” in their overdrive character). Plasma Blade can get a little bit more aggressive/tight.

Firejack: A few amps with this design were made. It’s a revised Gryphon design (with revisions throughout the amp format, not just the preamp). Fire Hammer replaces this, and by comparison is capable of a bit more aggression.